Cover-remover



A. S. MORANGE.

COVER REMOVER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-1. 1919.

1,34 1, 5 1 3 Patented May 25, 1920.

WITNESSES INVENTOR UNITED STATElfl PATENT rerea ALBERT S. MORANGE, OFNORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

COVER-REMOVEB.

Application filed December 1, 1919.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Annual Monarron, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Northampton, county ofHampshire, and State of hlassachusetts. have invented a new and Improved(lover Remover, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to cover ren'iovers, and has reference moreparticularly to a cover remover provided with means adapted to first cutthe label and then lift the cover with a wedging action.

An object of this invention is to provide a cover remover which will becheap to construct and easy to operate.

Another objectof this invention is to provide a cover remover speciallyadapted for removing the covers of cans without spilling the contentsthereof or damaging said cover.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a cover remover ofthe class described which will first cut the label surrounding the canand cover, and subsequently lift said cover by a wedging action.

Reference is now had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of thisspecification from which it is understood that the drawing is merelyillustrative of one example of the invention, and in which Figure 1 is aperspective View of the improved cover remover.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the cover remover fitted to a can.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the cover remover.

Referring to the accompanying drawing by numerals, 10 indicates a can ofany size and preferably cylindrical in shape, which has formed in thewall near the top an an nular head 11. Fitted to the outside of the saidcan and at the top thereof above said bead, is a can cover 12. The cancover is limited in its downward movement on the can by said bead 11,and normally rests thereon. In cans ordinarily used commercially such asbaking powder cans and the like, the outside of the can is covered witha paper label which also contains directions for the use of thecontents. When it is desired to remove the cover from such a can, oneusually cuts away the label adjacent the head 11 with a knife and thenpushes Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25. 1920.

Serial No. 341,613.

the point of the knife under the edges of the cover 12 so that bypulling upwardly on the cover 12 with one hand, and downwardly on thecan 10 with the other hand, the cover is finally removed. This operationis clumsy, inconvenient, and wasteful, as part of the contents of thecan is sometimes lost when the cover is removed, the cover is damaged bythe knife, and the directions contained on the laber are destroyed whensaid label is cut away. When it is desired to putthe cover on a can, itis usually found that it is so damaged by the knife that it is put onagain with difliculty, and is removed a second time with still greaterdifliculty.

In order to obviate these difficulties, I provide a cover removercomprising a plate 13 having a plurality of depending flanges 1epreferably three in number and arranged in three of the four quarters ofthe plate 13. Formed in the fourth quarter of the plate 13, is adepending flange 15 which is considerably shorter than the flanges 14,and may be curved in section as shown in Fig. 2. The lower ends of theflanges ll taper substantially to points, and said points are bentinwardly so that the bend line is at an angle with the plate 13. Each ofthese points form a knife 16 which is adapted to extend under the loweredge of the cover 12, between the said edge and the bead 11. The handle17 is formed in the shape of a loop and is fixed to the plate 13 by anysuitable means such as a pair of offset flanges 18, which pass through aslot 19 in said plate.

In operation the cover remover is slipped over the cover into theposition shown in Fig. 2, until the flange 15 drops down outside thecover. The flanges 14 are then of such length that the knives 16 arepositioned adjacent the lower edge of the cover 12. The flanges 14: arepreferably somewhat resilient so that said knives are pressed againstthe paper label which ordinarily covers a can of this type. By rotatingthe cover remover by means of the handle 17, the three knives cut anannular slit in the label and also lift the cover slightly by thewedging action of the knives. In order to completely remove the cover,the can is set on the table, and by grasping the can with one hand andthe handle 17 with the other,

a slight pull Will remove the cover from the can without damaging thelid' or the directions on the label. If desired, the cover remover maybe left on the can cover so as to be in a position for further use.

The cover remover can be made very cheaply out of preferably, sheetmetal, but any other suitable material can be used,'and can be madeinvarious sizes to fit cans of different dimensions.

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated exampleconstitutes a practical embodiment of my invention, I do not limitmyself strictly to the mechanical details herein illustrated, sincemanifestly the same can be considerably varied Without departure fromthe spirit-0f the invention, as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus describedmy invention, 1

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent: 7 Q 7 A can coverremover comprising, a disk, a plurality of depending flanges arrangedsubstantially around the periphery of said disk, said flanges taperingto a point at their lower-most portion, a knife formed on each flange bybending said points inwardly so that the bend line is at an angle tosaid disk, said knives being adapted to engage the lower edge of a cancover, and raise said can cover by a wedging actionbetweenthe,

head of said can and lower edge of said cover, said knives also beingadapted to cut an annular slit in the label surrounding said can, andmeans for rotating said can remover.

ALBERT S. MORANGE.

